Bob and the Bus
It started as a beautiful Monday morning when Bob happily strolled off to work. He arrived at the bus stop at his usual time, but the bus was late. Bob waited and waited, anxiously checking his watch, but still no bus. He began to worry when he realized he was late for an important meeting. He started to imagine what would happen to him because he was late. Finally, Bob saw a bus coming and he was relieved. But the bus was so crowded, it didn’t even stop. Bob screamed and yelled at the bus driver and whacked the side of the bus but the bus drove off. Bob was livid. When he finally got to work, he was still upset and he snapped at everybody all day.
How could Ding Sum have helped Bob? In this situation, there were many opportunities for Bob to have used Ding Sum. One of the most obvious times was when he got mad and yelled at the bus driver. At that moment, Bob’s anger had already exploded and he was visibly upset. He could have used Ding Sum then, to calm down and stop his angry reaction. Then he wouldn’t continue the rest of his day angry at the world. Bob could have used Ding Sum even earlier, when he first realized he was late for a meeting. If he had Ding Sum then, he could have stopped his thoughts of worry and not let his imagination run wild. Bob could have used Ding Sum even sooner, when he began to check his watch. Each time he checked his watch, he started to feel more anxious. His reactions were building up as he thought more and more about being late. If he had used Ding Sum right at that time, he could have stopped his reactions and then calmly thought of ways to solve his problem. Maybe he could take another bus route. Maybe it was worth it to take a cab. Maybe he should call the office to let them know he was running late. And even before this whole situation started, before Bob even stepped out of his house, he could have used Ding Sum while he was at home, to anticipate and prepare for the things that could happen in his day. By beginning his day with Ding Sum, Bob could have been ready for whatever situations that came his way.
Mary and Problems at Work
Every day, Mary comes home from work, upset about her day. She is so unhappy that she just wants to forget about her day. Every time she thinks about it, she gets upset again. So she pretends that nothing happened and everything is fine. However, when she goes to bed, she is restless as she tosses and turns all night. In the morning, she’s still edgy and she goes back to work again to start another miserable day.
How can Ding Sum help Mary? There are many opportunities for Mary to use Ding Sum. One place to start is when she comes home from work. The first thing she can do is to silence her thoughts to calm down because she is actually feeling upset from her day at work. Let go of all those thoughts and feelings about how things went wrong. After feeling calmer, Mary can then re-evaluate her day. Review what happened instead of pretending that nothing happened. By going through the process of re-evaluation, Mary can clearly see how her day went wrong and learn from her review. Why am I getting so mad? Is it the new worker? The time schedule? Do I have too much to do? When and where am I reacting? By figuring out the answers to these questions, Mary can come up with a plan to improve how she handles situations, so she can help others and herself. In this way, Mary uses Ding Sum to identify her problems and come up with solutions.
Armed with a plan to do things better, Mary can now go to work ready with her Ding Sum approach. As various incidents happen, Mary can use the 5 steps of Ding Sum immediately to resolve each situation on the spot. At the end of the day, Mary can return home without feeling upset because she dealt with the incidents the best she could. Mary can continue to use Ding Sum to re-evaluate how she does and figure out where and how she can improve even more. By using Ding Sum daily, Mary can reduce her stress and feel better at work and at home. With more and more practice of using Ding Sum, Mary will be able to handle any situation, anywhere and anytime.